Archive

* 23 new posts have been uploaded – click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links *

Historical info back to 1983 is now available for Europe! I have also added every Monthly Top 10 from 1996 to 1999 and from 2005 onwards, so you can see the complete evolution of the market over the years.

Out of the last 28 years, the VW Golf was the best selling car on the continent for no less than 24 years, with only four other cars holding the pole position at year-end: the Fiat Punto in 1997, Peugeot 206 in 2003, Opel Astra in 2006 and Peugeot 207 in 2007.

The Peugeot 206 was #1 in Europe in 2003

If you go into the detail of each month, then a few more cars managed to lead the European market for that amount of time: the Renault Megane, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Renault Clio and Opel Corsa all ranked #1 at some stage over the last 20 years.

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 23 new posts.

Car sales are down 5% in Europe this month, dragged down by the 8% drop of the UK market, a traditional powerhouse in March due to the registration change.

The VW Golf still leads but is down 10% at 53,055 units, followed by the Ford Fiesta, up 2 spots on February but down 27% year-on-year at 50,534 sales. The Fiesta is back to #2 year-to-date, ahead of the VW Polo, #3 in March too at 39,311 units and +4% year-on-year.

Boosted by the new generation, the Ford Focus gains 6 spots on last month and ranks 6th with 36,339 sales, its best position in Europe over the last 12 months. The Citroen C3 is #10 and in the Top 10 for the third time in the last 5 months.

21,763 new cars were sold in Poland in February, up 1% year-on-year. For the first time since 2009, the Skoda Fabia is the best selling car in the country, ahead of its big sister the Skoda Octavia with 908 sales (4.2%) vs. 856 (3.9%). The Octavia is still #1 year-to-date at 6.1% share, with the Fabia #2 at 5%, both well above their 2010 levels.

In 3rd position, the Opel Astra gains one spot on January at 789 sales (3.6%) and is also #3 year-to-date at 3.8% share. It is followed by the Fiat Punto and Ford Focus. Notice the excellent performance of the Chevrolet Aveo, outside the Top 20 in 2010 but #8 in 2011 year-to-date.

* See the Top 50 best selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ below *

At 1,902 units over the first 3 months of 2011, new car sales in Latvia are up 132% on 2010 and 45% on 2009 but are still a far cry (-68%!) from the 5,934 registrations achieved in Q1 2008.

Stable on top, the VW Golf leads the way again and improves its market share over last year at 5.2% thanks to 98 sales. The Renault Megane takes the 2nd spot at 4.7% share, followed by the Ford Focus at 3.6%.

3 models deliver explosive growth to land in the Top 10 over the period: the Renault Scenic is up 50 spots to reach the 4th place with 64 sales and 3.4%, the VW Caddy gains 30 spots to #6 at 59 sales (3.1%) and the Suzuki SX4 grows by 53 spots to #8 at 54 units (2.8%). Notice the Lexus RX at #17, the Nissan Juke at #18 and BMW X6 at #19.

* See the Top 150 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *

The Chinese car market continues to take a breather after the extravagant growth of 2010, up 5% in March at 1,828,500 vehicles and 8% over the first quarter at 4,983,800. Passenger vehicle sales are up 6% in March at 1,347,600 units.

For the first time since the launch of the N5 last year, the FAW Xiali N-Series takes the lead at 24,060 sales, and by the same token climbs to #1 year-to-date at 64,250 units. The VW Lavida drops to #2 at 22,265 sales and #3 in 2011 at 62,605 sales, and the veteran VW Jetta is #3 at 21,419 but #2 in 2011 at 63,033.

Honda CR-V

The Buick Excelle is solid in 4th place at 19,242 units, above the Ford Focus in very good shape at #5 with 18,247 sales. The BYD F3 continues to slide down, #10 this month and #5 year-to-date. The best selling SUV is the Honda CR-V, up 13 spots on February at #11 with 15,156 sales.

The Nissan Sunny continues its progression and ranks 13th with 13,865 units changing hands, the ChangAn Benben Mini is holding very well at #21 and the Mazda6 gains 48 spots at #24 with 12,104 sales.

UK car sales are down for the 9th month in a row, at -8% in March with 366,101 registrations. March and September are traditionally the strongest months of the year in the UK as they coincide with the launch of new licence plates that act like a new model year.

For the first time since last November, the Ford Fiesta is #1 with 19,676 sales and 5.4% share, and given the weight carried by this month in the year-to-date ranking the Fiesta is now also #1 in 2011 overall at 5% of the market.

The new generation Ford Focus comes in at #2 with 14,370 sales and 3.9%, ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa at 13,556 units (3.7%) and Vauxhall Astra at 10,704 (2.9%). The VW Golf, #1 last month, is 5th at 10,282 units and 2.8%.

The Vauxhall Insignia stays strong at #6 whereas the Peugeot 207, Mini and BMW 3 Series all climb back into the Top 10.

* See the Top 100 best selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *

Austrian car sales are up 8% in March at 35,869 registrations and up 16% year-to-date at 87,865. VW tops the ranking as usual with the Golf at 1,701 units and 4.7% and the Polo at 1,249 sales and 3.5%.

The Opel Astra is up 9 spots on February to #3 at 1,181 sales and 3.3%, whereas the Ford Focus, boosted by the new generation now in showrooms, is up 15 spots to #4 with 846 units and 2.4%, and the VW Passat is up 9 places at #8 (1.8%).

Two all-new models break into the Top 100: the Peugeot 508 is 60th with 203 units, and the Chevrolet Orlando is 91st at 123 sales.